'Fit Mom' says not to 'make yourself a prisoner to a certain pant size' in viral post

Sia Alexis Cooper, otherwise known by her blog name Diary of a Fit Mommy, recently shared a revelation she had on Facebook while trying on clothing in a dressing room. With its candid photos and totally relatable experience, the post is going viral. “REAL TALK… ever been in a dressing room and felt TOTALLY defeated?” she wrote.

Cooper shared side-by-side photos of herself trying on two bottoms that were marked size 5. One was too tight and the other was too loose — and Cooper left the room with a little bit less confidence than she walked in with.

“Sizing is so freaking different from brand to brand,” Cooper said. “Yet, we spend our time putting SO much emphasis on the number of pair of jeans. Screw the numbers! Screw sizing. Go by how your clothes FIT.”

Cooper generally considers herself a size 2, but even she had trouble fitting into the size 5s she found on her shopping trip. “At one point in my life, I only wanted to be a size zero, because all of the models were size zero. How crazy is that?” she admitted. “It’s a terrible way of thinking, and you shouldn’t fall into that same trap, either.”

Cooper tells Yahoo Lifestyle that she decided to share her dressing room experience when she realized that this something women deal with on a daily basis. “This is why most women avoid dressing rooms and shopping altogether,” she says. “It’s complete bulls*** to make yourself a prisoner to a certain pant size or number on the scale.”

She even has a solution for dealing with sizing disparities. “I think women should cut the tags out and go by how clothing FEELS instead,” she suggests.

Her post was meant to serve as a “wake up call and dose of encouragement,” and fans are writing in to say that the message was effective. One commenter wrote to say she “got sucked into the number on the scale and the number in my clothes too! I let it define me for WAY TO LONG.”

Others are thanking Cooper for her honest and thoughtful message. “This is why I hate shopping. Thank you for this. It’s hard to keep that in mind sometimes,” wrote Liz George. Another fan has our favorite new expression to take with us next time we go clothes shopping: “I’m variety size.”